1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of testing circuit boards. Specifically, the present invention pertains to devices for connecting test equipment to circuit boards designed for fine pitch solder lead integrated circuits.
2. Description of Related Art
It is necessary to use test equipment to test prototypes of circuit board designs. Various forms of prior art test equipment provide connections between the test equipment and solder leads of components on the circuit board. Some test probes provide individual connection to a particular pin of a component on a circuit board. Oscilloscopes and some logic analyzers use this interconnection technique. Other prior art test probes include test clips that may be clipped onto integrated circuit components to form connections with multiple pins on the component. The test clip may then be connected in a variety of ways to the test equipment.
The rapid advance of integrated circuits and circuit board technology has lead to several problems in using these prior art test equipment interconnection devices. As integrated circuits and circuit board fabrication techniques have improved, substantially greater functionality has been incorporated into modern integrated circuits. As integrated circuits expand in functionality, a greater number of solder leads or pins are required to effectively communicate with these devices. As the number of pins increases, the size of the pins and spacing between the pins decreases thereby not unreasonably increasing the physical space required for the component on a circuit board. For example, fine pitch solder lead integrated circuit components being fabricated today generally include those components with lead centers no larger than 0.8 millimeters or 0.0315 inches apart. These fine pitch solder lead components make test equipment or test probe access very difficult. Moreover, the fine pitch solder leads are more delicate and more susceptible to damage by test probe connection. In combination with the diminishing size of component solder leads, circuit boards are being more densely populated with integrated circuit components. As circuit boards become more densely populated, test probe access again becomes more difficult. Further, components installed on a circuit board are increasingly required to be low profile (i.e., a minimum vertical dimension perpendicular to the plane of the circuit board) components. Low profile components allow a plurality of circuit boards to be more closely spaced in a particular computer system enclosure. Again however, low profile circuit boards decrease the space available for access by test equipment. Prior art test equipment interconnection devices have been unable to operate in an environment of decreased component and board dimensions. Thus, a better test equipment interconnection device is needed.